Enlarge image
Ahlbeck on Usedom: Danilo Pröhl and Sven Mehling crossed the finish line at the 16th Beach Chair World Championships in a time of 5.74 seconds
Photo: Jens Büttner/dpa
Carrying beach chairs: This has been the core of a curious competition on the Baltic Sea island of Usedom for years. At the weekend, teams of two competed in this special discipline at the 16th Beach Chair World Cup in the seaside resort of Ahlbeck.
Danilo Pröhl and Sven Mehling were chosen as winners on Saturday evening. They dragged a basket weighing around 60 kilograms over the 20 meter long stretch across the Baltic Sea sand. It took them 5.74 seconds to reach the finish - but the record has stood at 4.91 seconds for years.
Last year's winners also competed again, the brothers Peter and Robert Albrecht from Schwerin. But their run ended badly, the two of them fell with their basket.
All participating teams in this “World Championship” came from Germany; the only international duo from Switzerland missed the competition because they were unable to travel due to the rail strike.
This year, prize money of 1,000 euros was awarded to the winning team. A grandstand for up to 1,000 guests was set up on the beach in Ahlbeck especially for the competition. Around 600 cubic meters of sand were moved and around 20 tons of steel were used.
Mayk Borchardt, a beach chair rental company with a captain's license, is considered the inventor of the beach chair spectacle in the cold season for tourists. The championship was held for the first time in 2007.
wit/dpa